Vacant is a slow-burn narrative-driven pixel art horror adventure where you and a friend set out to film a ghost hunting show in a building where 54 people mysteriously disappeared.
Created by ribyrnes (creator of Candypink), in Vacant you take on the role of a young woman who has been recruited by a friend to do some filming for their ghost hunting YouTube series. It’s your first time doing this sort of thing, but your friend shows you what to do and the place you’re checking out today seems particularly interesting. It’s an abandoned hotel in the middle of nowhere where 54 people mysteriously vanished overnight.
The gameplay in Vacant is fairly simple – you generally just walk around the hotel looking for points of interest and then press a button to start a conversation about it. It’s the narrative that really stands out though. It’s a little exposition-heavy early on, but once it gets going it’s a fantastic piece of storytelling. It’s got a great sense of atmosphere and the horror lies in the idea of what’s really going on at the hotel rather than any cheap jump-scares. A ghost-hunting horror show well worth catching.
Controls: Arrow Keys – Movement, Spacebar – Interact
Available On: Windows, Mac & Browser
Gameplay Video: Here